Pubdate: Wed, 14 Jul 2004
Source: Edmonton Examiner, The (CN AB)
Copyright: The Edmonton Examiner 2004
Contact:  http://www.edmontonexaminer.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1837
Author: Karen Karbashewski
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/ephedrine (ephedrine)

METH UNIT, PHARMACISTS PARTNER TO FIGHT WAR ON DRUGS

The Alberta College of Pharmacists is the only college in the country 
urging all pharmacies to restrict consumer access to ephedrine and 
pseudoephedrine.

The two ingredients are used to produce methamphetamine, a highly addictive 
drug.

In an effort to reduce dependency on methamphetamine, drugstore products 
containing high amounts of the ingredients will be kept behind the 
pharmacists' counters.

"The college and its members are making the components of substances of 
abuse and misuse less readily available for individuals seeking them for 
illegal purposes," says Alberta College of Pharmacists president Tracy Marsden.

Major pharmacy chains have vowed to comply with the request to reduce 
access to the ingredients. Independently owned operations are expected to 
follow suit.

The Edmonton Police Service is clamping down on meth use in the city and 
has had a meth project team up and running for the past three months. Its 
job is to combat the ever-increasing number of users in the city as 
Edmonton Police Service (EPS) statistics show a 4,500 per cent increase in 
the amount of meth seized from 1999 to 2003. That means while police seized 
807.6 grams of the drug in 1999, they snagged 37,294.5 grams off the street 
in 2003, thanks in part to a large bust.

Staff Sgt. Adrian Marr is in charge of the meth unit and says two 
detectives and an analyst have been dedicated to the team to help combat 
growing use in the city.

"It's not just the flavour of the month. Meth is going to be the flavour of 
the year for a number of years that we are going to have to combat. It's 
easily accessible, people can manufacture it and if you have the right 
ingredients, you can make it in your backyard," he says.

Marr says the addiction rate is high because typically the second time it's 
used, the user becomes addicted.

"The bottom line is, it's going to be here for a while," says Marr.

Corinne DelColle, an addictions councillor with Alberta Alcohol and Drug 
Abuse Commission (AADAC), says the pharmacists' move is positive as AADAC 
client data to February 2004 shows that eight per cent of its clients, 
which includes adults and adolescents, report concern about amphetamine 
stimulants including meth amphetamine.

AADAC's 2002 Alberta Youth Experience survey showed amphetamines including 
meth, speed, bennies and ecstasy, were drugs tried by 5.5 per cent of youth 
in grades seven through 12. DelColle says part of the appeal of the drug is 
it provides a prolonged high compared to other stimulants.

"It gives high energy, lack of fatigue, wakefulness, enhanced performance 
and there are feelings of joy and power and high self-esteem," she says. 
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